Athens protestors take on birth control mandate

Two anti-abortion groups held a Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally, one of more than 100 nationwide, at the Robert G. Stephens Federal Building on the second anniversary of Democrats’ health care reform law.

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, who spoke at the rally, called the law an attack on freedom of religion.

“Obamacare has the potential to be the greatest attack on our freedom since 1776,” Broun said.

The health care law included a provision requiring employers that provided health insurance to cover birth control. Religious employers, such as the Catholic church, objected, and Obama administration adjusted the policy so that insurance companies provide birth control, not employers directly.

The compromise didn’t satisfy many of the policy’s critics, who say policyholders who don’t believe in birth control are still forced to pay for it for others.

“It’s not about birth control,” Broun said. “It’s about government control.”

Broun also promoted his own health care bill, the OPTION Act. He said he is trying to convince Republican House leaders to make the bill a replacement for the health care reform law if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes it down.

The bill doesn’t include any mandates, Broun said. It would make it easier to buy insurance across state lines and form associations to bargain for lower prices, give tax credits to doctors who provide free care, increase the amount of money patients can spend tax-free on medical expenses and replace Medicare with vouchers for private plans.

The tea party group FreedomWorks has endorsed the bill.

Broun also addressed a report by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government that he pocketed almost $30,000 in interest on a personal loan he made to his campaign. Broun said he turned around and used that interest to pay the interest on the $309,000 bank loan.